Improvement in hat-body-stretching machines



J. s. TAYLOR. I HAT-BODY STRETCHINGM.ACHINE. No.174,389.

Patented March 7,1876.

Jar/elder JEImJ/ YT 746'! UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES s. TAYLOR, 0F 'DANBURY, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENTINIHAT-BODV1STRETCHING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent bio-"174,389, dated March 7,1876 application filed January 5, 1876.

To albwliomtt may concern:

I Beit known that "I, JAJi/[Es S. TAYLOR, of Danbury, in the county of Fairfield and .State of Connecticut, have inventeda new and valuable Improvement in Hat-Body-Stretching Machines; and I do hereby'declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference beinghad to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the; drawings, is a? representation of a top plan view of my invention. Fig. 2 isa side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section.

This invention has relation. to thatclass of. machines for stretching hat-bodies; and its object is to provide a machine that may -read-. ily be employed in operating upon the tips cessed at its rear end to form bearings a'for a driving-shaft, 12, having secured thereto bevel-gear wheels 0 d. The front part of the bed or frame A terminates in an upwardly-curved support, 6, and has secured around its outer side a trough or receptacle, B, for holding hot water for heating and immersing the hat while in the processof stretching. A faucetsiphon, or other suitable device, may be connected to the trough for drawing off the contents when desired. Passing through suitable bearings f are shafts g g, the same having upon their outer ends bevel-gear wheels h i, the teeth of which mesh with teeth upon the wheels 0 d, and carry upon their forward ends conical rollers G (l and gear-wheels jj, these rollers being held in position by a forked plate,

70, the points of which enter the open ends of the rollers, so as to allow a free rotary motion of said rollers and, at the same time, securely hold them in their proper relative position during the operation of the'machine. Hinged or pivoted to plates 1 lis-a cross-frame, m, forming bearings for the short shafts an, to which are connected gear-wheels 0 o and conical .rollers D D, supported at their ends by a allow the same to revolve freely thereon. At

the rear end of the plate 10, and to the under side thereof, is secured a suitable'spring, g, which bears upon the bed or frame of the machine, and keeps the rollers D D down upon the lower rollers O C. These several rollers are'of peculiar-construction, the ends 7' being of a conical form, terminating as near to a point as possible, such portion of the rollers being designed for the purpose of stretching the tip of the hat, while the larger portion or base 8 is employed for stretching the brim; The concave part t of the rollers, between the conical ends 1* and the base 8, is to allow that portion of the hat requiriirg no stretching to pass over without being acted upon previous to, the operation of the bandcutter a. This band-cutter it consists of a circular disk or ring placed upon the roller D, which, in'its operation, presses against that portion of the hat designated as the band.

The disk or ring is made adjustable upon the v roller, to admit of its location thereon being changed to conform to the different-sized hats. To efiectthis result the rollers C D are cut away, as shown at c, which allows the disk or ring to-be more readily moved to or from the conical end '1'. The hat or form of the hat,

previous to itsbeing operated upon by the machine, is of a conical shape, and-in this form the hat is taken at the base or brim and placed over and around the lower rollers G G and the curved support e, theframe m,

with the upper rollers D D, being raised sufficiently to allow the hat, as above described, to be placed in position; after which, through ers, holding the material composing the hatbody firmly between them. i The forward mobe carried in a similar direction.

tion of the rollers will then cause the hat to The curved support e is considered of great importance in a machine ofthis character, as'

it also acts to keep the hat in its proper place in relation to the rollers while it is being acted upon.

It will be noticed that the forward drawing motion of the rollers 'O D is greater than the rollers O D, owing to the difl'ereuce in the size of the bevel-gear wheels h 'i, so that when the hat has received a complete rotation by the rollers it becomes stretched in that section of the hat corresponding in form r 8, while the edge of the band-cutter u presses against another portion of the hat coming in contact therewith, causing it to be stretched in the line marked for the band.

The stretching of the tip and brim of the hat at difi'erent operations is accomplished in 'the following manner: When it is desired to stretch the tip, and not the brim, the hat is rolled up at the edge, or, in other words, rolled over so as to allow that part of the hat to pass through the non-bearing surfaces of the rollthe full depth of the hat. 7

Having now fully described the construction and operation of my invention, what -I claim as new, and desire to secure'by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for stretching hats, the rollers G O D D, having an intermediate nonbearing surface by which the bearing-surfaces r s are formed for the purpose of stretching the tips and brims of hats at the same or different operations, substantially as and for the the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the rollers G G D D, of the band-cutter u, operating in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

3. The curved support 0 and rollers O O, in combination with the rollers D D, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination, with the rollers G G D D and curved support 0, of the trough B, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I, claim the above 1 have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

JAS. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

ALEXANDER WILDMAN, LUMAN L. HUBBELL. 

